Many technical systems, especially production systems for manufacturing products on a production line system (e.g. paper, textiles, plastic foils, metal foils) have drive technologies which are no longer up to date, e.g. analog technology-based drives. This outdated technology has serious disadvantages since it exhibits an increased susceptibility to faults because it is getting older and as a result of external influences for example, an inability to repeat operations accurately and only limited diagnostic facilities. This results in unsatisfactory system availability, high scrap quotas and high failure costs.
To avoid these problems and to increase the productivity of the system, a modernization of the system can be undertaken, in which for example the drive and automation systems implemented in outdated analog technology are replaced by modern systems employing digital technology. Since the budget available for such upgrading however does not generally extend to a complete upgrading of the system, the system is subdivided into a number of subsections which are then modernized gradually. Each of these subsections, e.g. a multi-motor unit along with the power units feeding the motors (e.g. rectifiers, dc or ac converters), drive control and possibly higher-ranking automation, can then be planned and modernized separately in accordance with the available budget.
However such modernizing involves a high overall expenditure, since modifications will be required as a rule for an upgrading step both in the new, modernized part of the system as well in the existing system parts, especially at the existing automation level, to enable the new and old parts of the system to communicate with each other. Furthermore it is not possible with this process to implement a contemporary drive and automation concept which increases productivity while an old part of the system is still present. An implementation of the concept in the last step, i.e. for upgrading of the last part of the system, can also no longer be implemented at acceptable expense. Consequently all conventional approaches to solutions are not optimum from either a technical or a financial standpoint. Many system operators therefore put up with the disadvantages of the existing system and forego modernization of the complete system.